Quebec MP and former Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidate Maxime Bernier launched a new political party Friday, The People’s Party of Canada. The organization is holding an informational meeting for the party Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Vernon’s Village Green Hotel. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)

“We will be outlining information as it becomes available, sharing links and principles, discussing the formation of a North Okanagan Shuswap Riding Association and, yes, announcing that we will be actively pursuing the idea of running a People’s Party of Canada candidate in the North Okanagan Shuswap riding in time for the 2019 federal election,” said Glen Walushka who, along with Janet Green, are the co-hosts for the meeting.

Walushka and Green are previous members of the Conservative Party, both having served on the board of the North Okanagan Shuswap Conservative Association.

“Both Janet and I attended a number of the 2017 CPC Leadership debates and we supported Andrew Scheer (winner) and Maxime Bernier, one, two, as the best two choices to lead the CPC into the 2019 election,” said Walushka. “Mr. Scheer seemed, at that juncture, to be the best candidate to keep the CPC together until the 2019 election and perhaps thereafter.

“Subsequent events, particularly the deliberate elimination of certain ‘hot button’ issues including supply management from policy discussions (and a subsequent vote) at the Halifax Policy Convention last month was the ‘last straw’ for many CPC members — specifically Mr. Bernier.”

One of the most important attributes valued by some, perhaps most, conservatives is the adherence to conservative principles, including free-market laissez-faire economics, said Walushka.

“Mr. Scheer’s overt support for subsidized industries, including the Dairy Farmers of Canada, is not a conservative value, nor is his improbable support for Trudeau and Freeland as the Liberals collectively put 20 per cent of the Canadian economy at risk by putting certain items on the NAFTA table as non-negotiable,” he said.

“In short, Mr. Scheer does not understand his role as the Official Leader of the Opposition meaning that his first responsibility is to hold the sitting government to account.”

The new People’s Party of Canada launch was, in a great measure, conducted through member-to-member interaction and social media participation at minimal expense and with minimal fanfare.

“I have literally had new Twitter followers engage from coast to coast — from Courtenay, B.C. to Newfoundland,” said Walushka. “We actually heard chime after chime as our iPads and cell phones announced new members joining the People’s Party of Canada, providing financial contributions in many cases.”

“Max Bernier and the newly announced People’s Party of Canada appears the appropriate vehicle for driving Canadian politics in an evolving direction. We look forward to being an integral part of the process.”